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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Three Cups of Tea

Booklist (February 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 11))Grades 4-8. This young-reader’s edition of the eponymous New York Times best-seller for adults presents an abbreviated, simplified account of Mortenson’s life-saving mountain rescue by Pakistani villagers that inspired his life’s work: building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Most significant in this version is the emphasis on young people, evident in new photographs of youth and in the extended interview with Mortenson’s 12-year-old daughter, Amira, who describes her overseas experiences with her parents, and then waiting at home while her father travels the world. Amira’s substantive answers show her direct involvement with her father’s work: “I got my dad to start a lunch program in some of the schools.” And they also reveal the deep, personal impact of global tensions on the family: “My dad’s a peacemaker, and some people hate him or are jealous. He has been threatened to be killed.” With all the recent buzz about Mortenson’s story, this accessible title is sure to draw attention. For the picture-book audience, suggest Mortenson’s Listen to the Wind (2009), coauthored and illustrated by Susan L. Roth.